We’ve been in this situation at one or more points in our dining existence. Not all restaurants are guaranteed to live up to reputations or have one at all. We may not always get what we want right off the bat. It may be the cold soup (or a fly in the soup!) or the lousy waiter but as trivial as they come, a little bad thing can turn an otherwise much-anticipated dining experience into a disaster.

However, these things can be averted just by acting swiftly, a little patience and a dash of tact. Here are some tips on making a restaurant complaint.

Timing

Remember, act immediately. Waiting until you’re halfway through or have finished the meal is the worst time to complain about bad food. Doing so will only give you and the restaurant much to talk and argue about. The longer you make the complaint, the longer your horrible dining experience would go.

Reason and Intent

When complaining be sure to be concrete of the reason. Be exact of what about the food or the service are you going to point out. Then think of what you want to achieve. Do you want a replacement or the food canceled off the bill. If you’re just out to heckle people or to get a free meal then don’t even bother.

Food

There are many things about the food that you can complain about. The easiest one to point out would be hygiene issue. If that’s the case, you would not even bother to demand a replacement. You’d rather leave the restaurant without being billed. That would be a reasonable stand and the restaurant would undoubtedly understand.

Some things can be averted just when ordering. Make sure you ask the waiter about certain ingredients that you are allergic too. They may be included in the meal that you’re ordering.

If it’s generally an inedible meal, ask politely if you can have a replacement meal. Most places would grant you such a request without even billing you with the inedible one.

Dealing with the Waiter

As a business restaurants do focus on both product and service. Your waiter is there to be of service so it’s part of his job to serve you and address your concerns. If he’s a rude bugger, then you may want to escalate the issue to the manager.

As for tipping, if you really had a lousy service, then you might not want to tip at all. But don’t make fuss just to weasel your way out of tipping. But if the waiter did an excellent good job despite the lousy food (like if he gave you a discount or offered replacements), then tipping is a must.

Dealing with the Manager

Things could escalate when your requests aren’t resolved the way you like it. Ask politely to see the manager more often than not, managers are more compromising as the restaurant wouldn’t want to see you speaking directly with the manager for a complaint. Other diners might get the cue that something is horribly wrong.

Just be transparent with the manager. Point out what you’re complaining about and what you want to do about it.

Just remember to:

• Act immediately
• Be polite but assertive
• Be patient